Woman Claims Cops Stole Her Nude Cell Phone Photos

Houston police who stopped a woman for allegedly driving drunk copied nude photos she had taken of herself with her cell phone, and then passed them around the precinct, the woman's lawyer charged in a court hearing.

The lawyer made the allegations Thursday in a hearing to determine whether testimony should be allowed in the woman's trial about remarks the officers allegedly made about the 25-year-old woman, who is a student, probably being a prostitute. Her lawyer claimed the officers showed bias in the case.

Houston police Officer Christopher Green testified that the DWI suspect had already been given a breathalyzer test on the night of Nov. 24, 2004, when Officer George Miller handed over the woman's phone, which contained several nude photos.

Green said he copied the digital photos to his PDA because he thought it was unusual and could be used as evidence later.

"It's a ridiculous allegation," said Ned Gill, the woman's attorney. "I think he's trying to show that there's been unusual behavior on the part of my client. In fact, the unusual behavior was on the part of the officers for copying these photos on his PDA and showing them to other people. That's the unusual part."

Green testified that one of the first people he showed the photos to was a sheriff's deputy who worked in the courtroom. He said they were discussing unusual DWI cases when the photos came up.

"It's unusual," Green's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said. "I don't want to call it strange. The court wanted to hear and he has always been willing to testify to what he knew about the case."

Green also said another officer, an assistant district attorney, and police department chemist Rick Visor saw the photos as well.

On the stand Thursday, Visor said he remembered the photos being passed around a room among several police officers, but he couldn't remember their names.

"They were chuckling and laughing," Viser testified. "I heard something to the effect that she might be a lady of the night, that she might be a prostitute."

The defendant said she feels certain that more than four people saw the nude photos of her, and her attorney said he didn't believe the officers.

"I'm shocked there's only four names. There's got to be more names out there. They're just not coming clean with me," Gill said. "I think it goes to Green's credibility. It's like he caught a 10-pound bass and he wanted to show it off."

One of the witnesses who had been subpoenaed to testify, assistant district attorney Celeste Carter, was not present for the hearing. Nonetheless, the judge set June 28 as a trial date for the DWI case.